Dr Drew Miller

Q is for quality

Mentoring using
the familiar and effective mantra 'work hard, play hard,' Dr Drew Miller is
seeking to promote and produce holistic, evidence-based physical education
programs for children and adolescents across the country.

Dr Drew Miller is at the top of his game - literally. He's discovering and experimenting with the latest in child and adolescent learning, sharing practical experiences of the many ways in which game-based activities have led to improvements in youth health, physical education and physical activity
outcomes.

"Developing positive outcomes is about so much more than just replicating motor control skills, like bouncing a ball or swinging a bat," the enthusiastic investigator concedes.

"It's also about developing knowledge of how to play, as well as producing cohesive and inclusive activities in mixed-gender, mixed-ability settings."

As unconventional and forward thinking as they come, Drew is sitting comfortably in the space between the physical activity and physical education research fields. Believing a strategic mixture of both is key to "keeping kids in sports," the Central-Coast based academic is eager to inspire renewed,
ongoing curiosity for regular recreation and sporting activity.

"There's not much encouragement for teenagers at the moment," he admits.

"People around the 14-15 year age mark reach a point very quickly where they plateau with their skills."

"So I want to change the way they're taught and the way they learn – if they can understand the game better and play the game better, they can hopefully get more out of it."

An educator dedicated to honing his craft, Drew is working closely with schoolteachers and community-level coaches to achieve this added value. Simultaneously creating and implementing novel professional development programs, the passionate scholar is looking to ensure his mentees are similarly at
the top of their game.

"I was looking for a way to move the research surrounding continuing professional development into an intervention that had impact on teachers and students," he reveals.

"This is where PLUNGE (Professional Learning for Understanding Games Education) came from."

"It enabled learning and teaching tailored to the authentic environment in each classroom."

"I use role modelling, feedback and robust discussions about teaching practices to promote quality teaching that has a lasting, positive impact on students."

Down to a different science

A PE teacher by trade, Drew switched to a research career in 2007 when he undertook a PhD in Human Physiology at the University of Newcastle. An ambitious venture in the biomedical sciences area, the four-year probe sought to explore non-contact injuries in elite soccer and rugby competitors.

"Essentially, I looked at the characteristics of athletes that expose them to greater amounts of risk," he clarifies.

"I wanted to determine the factors we can change, like power outputs and posture, and the ones we can't, like limb length compared to torso length."

Detecting a handful of each, Drew's study found there's a bit of wiggle room where non-modifiable aspects are concerned.

"Once we know about them, we can do more protective work with the players," he explains.

"We can improve things like their lumbar control so they're not at such high risk of injury."

Educating about educating

Drew stayed on at the University at Newcastle after receiving his award in 2011, electing to work within the Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition. Working under Professor Phil Morgan during the one-year stint, the vibrant researcher managed the multi-award winning obesity prevention
program 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids.'

Moving to the School of Education in 2012 to pursue "work that produced change in schools through a focus on the quality of physical education teaching", Drew designed and ran the PLUNGE projects.

"The first was a pilot study where we tested out the methodology of a professional development program," he recalls.

"The second was a larger randomised controlled trial."

"Over eight weeks, we trained teachers and worked with children in catholic schools across the region."

Extend and commend

The physical education expert has since branched out from these traditional scholastic settings, opting to spearhead a similar, adapted practice with netball coaches in and around Newcastle. This time devising and delivering a mentoring program over a 3-month period, Drew looked to evaluate the benefits
of prolonged exposure to games-based activities that require decision-making.

"Skills-based teaching proclaims that if you don't know how to do a chest pass, you can't play netball," he explains.

"While this is obviously important, we say that if you don't know where to stand or how to communicate with the other players, you're never going to get the ball to be able to throw it in the first place."

"So we advocate a dual focus."

Though still processing the data from this creative collaboration, Drew is cautiously optimistic about its translation success.

"I think the results will replicate what we saw in schools, that helping coaches provide regular and more detailed feedback, and exposing the learners to sustained decision making leads to improvements in children's playing performances," he suggests.

"There has been real interest from the local associations about the project, and we're hoping to carry out an offshoot in the near future, perhaps with Netball Australia."

Meeting needs, changing lives

Closer to home, Drew is also evaluating a lifestyles project for a disability service provider in the Hunter.

"I'm helping them modify and evaluate the program to maximise outcomes," he says.

"Adjustments made will be based on research in behaviour change, nutrition and physical activity."

"Compared with the general population, people with intellectual disability have a higher prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, so this is an important program for the health of this group in the hunter region."

Career Summary

Biography

Dr Andrew (Drew) Miller began lecturing at the University of Newcastle in 2012, after completion of his PhD (Human Physiology) in 2011, and is an associate of the University of Newcastle's Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, and the Faculty of Education and Arts program - Teachers and Teaching. Dr Miller's research focus is on the professional development of primary school teachers for the improvement of teaching quality in Physical Education. Improvement of physical activity outcomes amoung primary school age students is the long-term goal of this research. Dr Miller is also engaged in the National expansion of the Exceptional Teachers in Disadvantaged Schools project, which aims to place and support high quality graduates from the University of Newcastle into traditionally disadvanted schools.

Research ExpertiseSchools have an important role to play in promoting physical activity in youth and physical education is the primary vehicle associated with this outcome in the school setting. Through my research programs based around professional development of primary school teachers, I hope to improve the quality of physical education at a primary school level and in turn improve the long term physical activity outcomes for the children in these schools. I advocate for stronger (than the traditional in-service) professional development models that include teacher mentoring and communities of practice for the longer term improvement of teaching practice. Taking the learning into the teacher's environment, using role modelling, feedback and having robust discussion about teaching practice can have a lasting effect on teachers and the students they teach. I promote the use of games based teaching practices for overall student physical development in physical education. Physical Education is so much more than the replication of physical skills, and the development of the skills required to play games effectively, as well as an awareness of the sociocultural elements involved in any game played in a mixed gender, mixed ability school setting is important for all students. The use of games allows teachers to teach so much more than motor control skills and offers great opportunities to increase the quality of what's happening in a physical lesson.

Teaching ExpertiseMy teaching expertise is in line with my research interests. Programs developed for the mentoring and professional development of primary school teachers, and the intervention materials used for the acheivement of physical education and physical activity outcomes in childred is merged into Primary and Early Childhood Undergraduate Physical Education courses.

Miller AD, Callister R, 'Jump test monitoring and performance trends across a competitive season in professional rugby league players', Proceedings of the 3rd Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science Conference and the 5th Sports Dietitians Australia Update: From Research to Practice (2008) [E3]

Callister R, Aguiar EJ, Burtonwood JT, Miller AD, 'Comparison of fitness components to performance on the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test and the multistage fitness test', Proceedings of the 3rd Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science Conference and the 5th Sports Dietitians Australia Update: From Research to Practice (2008) [E3]

Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed0

Current1

Total current UON EFTSL

PhD0.15

Current Supervision

Commenced

Level of Study

Research Title / Program / Supervisor Type

2011

PhD

A Longitudinal Examination of Elements Associated with Educational Outcomes: Testing an Integrated Whole-Child Whole-School Model of Learning in Disadvantaged High School CommunitiesPhD (Education), Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of NewcastleCo-Supervisor